I harvested two mason jars of yeast slurry and it started bubbling and leaking out the top. I opened the jars to let all the gas out and then sealed it back. The slurry separated with half floating on top and the other half still dormant on the bottom. Now 95% is back to bottom. This is the 2nd time harvesting slurry without washing it, is this a normal thing and should I avoid tighting the lids too much next time to allow degassing and avoid the glass from breaking? Is the yeast still usable? Not sure why it wouldn't be, just curious as pitching bad yeast into a new beer is a bummer.
I've had the exact same thing happen to mine before. I just simply let the gas out and sealed it back up. The yeast was not infected in my experience.
I always close the lid of the jar tightly but letting a minimum last twist to allow gas out, then I wrap almost the whole jar using alluminium foil and an eleastic band to avoid bad guys getting into the slurry
I have a glass container that I use that has a solid lid (not two pieces). I do not tighten it all the way. It is Pyrex and can withstand very high pressure, but the yeast would not like the build up of pressure so I leave it partially screwed. The yeast would probably die before the glass broke. Edit: Just found them (I think). http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/P...Storage_Bottle_w_Screw_Cap_500_mL/EW-34514-24 Also the ones I have fit perfectly with the stoppers used with 1 gallon jugs. They work better for me then the jars.
They aren't nearly as indestructible as you think. There's a reason they caution against tightening the cap immediately after autoclaving. It doesn't take much in the way of negative pressure (as occurs when a sealed-while-hot vessel cools to room temp, or when vacuum filtration is employed and a filter membrane becomes clogged) to cause them to implode. We use them all the time in a lab setting, and I've seen them fail. Granted, positive and negative pressure are different conditions and the bottles will withstand more of the former than the latter - but you're wise to not screw the lids on tightly. I'm not sure about your yeast-death-before-explosion theory - and I wouldn't want to be around if/when you're proven wrong!
